PARIS SMOKEASY – CIGAR OF THE YEAR 2024

Pictured: #1 Cigar of the Year for 2024 –Epic Cigars

Every year since we started the COTY (Cigar of the Year) article, I have put out these disclaimers. We could re-smoke some of these sticks and possibly come out with a different end-of-year ranking. The weather, members moods, what they are pairing with it, and what they just ate, can all play a factor in their rating of that cigar at that specific time. For the COTY selection, we strictly go off the total average of all individual members Redneck Ratin’ Cards. The numbers fall where the numbers fall.

In the last 7 years, this club has smoked a total of 2551 cigars at our events, with 720 of them being in 2024. Why, because our members show up every month to try something new!

Now to the rankings. Each of the monthly articles are posted on the Smokeasy Page for members, can be found online at eExtraNews, or on Rigby’s Cigars & Lounge Facebook page. Feel free to go back and read them. Listed below are the results, the month we tried it, our guest, its final rating, and the sponsor of the night. For reference, of the 720 total attendees at our 12 events, the Redneck Ratin’ Club Average was 89.9/100.

2024 Honorable Mention – Espinosa

2024 Honorable Mention – Espinosa Laranja Azulejo Gordo 6″x60 with a Redneck Ratin’ of 92/100 (91.9 to be exact) from our June’s Cigar of The Night. Our sponsor for the night was Jeff & Cathleen Y Padier with Texas2A MANtique. It is a Hero Owned business as Jeff is a Veteran and current Law Enforcement Officer. The Espinosa Murcielago Robusto BP 5″x54 was our #3 Cigar of the Year (COY) in 2021.

#3 Cigar of the Year – Ohana

2024 #3 Cigar of the Year – Ohana Nui Pulse Maduro Toro 6″x52 with a Redneck Ratin’ of 92/100 (92.3 to be exact) from our April’s Cigar of The Night. We had Holly Anderson Flores, the managing partner of Ohana Nui Cigars, and her significant other, Ryan Frank Rodriguez – one of the Co-Owners of Ohana Nui, a Fort Worth based cigar company, at the event to tell us all about their history and label. James Shanahan with Townsend Fox LLC was our sponsor and it is a Hero Owned business as James is a former Law Enforcement Officer.

#2 Cigar of the Year – Perdomo

2024 #2 Cigar of the Year – Perdomo 30th Anniversary Sun Grown Epicure 6″x54 with a Redneck Ratin’ of 93/100 (92.9 to be exact) from our August’s Cigar of The Night with Pat Jones (Perdomo Pat), who is the Perdomo Sales Representative for North TX, OK, AR, and part of LA. Our sponsor for this event was Peoples Bank with Chance Abbott. They have been named the “Best Bank to get a Mortgage” for the 5th year in a row. In 2019 our #3 Cigar of the Year (COY) was the Perdomo Factory Tour Blend Maduro Torpedo 6 1/2″x54-gauge. Side note, for the 30th Anniversary line, only 75 cigar accounts nationally can order it. That is less than 2% of all cigar stores in the US and yes, Rigby’s is one of those locations that carry it!

This year we have a newcomer taking the hardware home. Newcomer because it’s the first time we tried this label and the first time the owner has come to one of our smoke nights. Also, a newcomer to the throne because he unseated the back-to-back 2022 & 2023 COTY two-peater spot from the Bocock Brothers.

The title of #1 Cigar of the Year for 2024 goes to Epic Cigars and Dean Parsons. We started January of ’23 off with Dean coming to Paris and telling us about his unique journey on becoming a cigar company founder/owner and about this fabulous stick! For eleven more months he fought off some serious competition as this was an exceptional year of club cigars. With a Brazilian Arapiraca Wrapper over an African Cameroon Binder with both Dominican and Nicaraguan Fillers, the Epic Maduro Fuerte Compinche (Toro) 6 ½”x54 ended up with a Redneck Ratin’ of 94/100 (93.9) and solidified the top spot. Only 4 cigars have cracked the 94+ rating in the last 7 years! Our sponsor for the night was WeDraw3D-Paris Drafting represented by the club president.

We ended the year with an awesome Christmas Party, great give-a-ways, and eExtraNews as the sponsor.